I have started to actually use the site Good Reads this week. With a vast array of books in my library and on my Kindle I need to read more. Books are as tempting for me to collect as fabric and quilt patterns. I see something I really like, bring it home, maybe even start to read it, and then it just sits there lost to my schedule of otherliness. I thought I was making up a new word, but alas, when I searched on Google it actually pulled up links for queries on whether it was in a Scrabble dictionary. The answer was no, no, no, and no. And there was no known definition in any dictionary. Goody! I get to tell you what it means! Otherliness-the quality or state of being busy with other things of equal or lesser importance.

One of the things that Good Reads does is recommend books to me based on my ratings of books. Today it gave me recommendations based on my feelings about Strunk and White's Elements of Style.

I happen to like that book and it has a fun family history in our home. Late one night after the boys had gone to bed I came into the room where my husband was and began to read a section of it to him out of pure delight for what it was saying. The boys were not sleeping but heard this wonderful little exchange and unbeknownst to us stored up their knowledge ofthis exchange for the future.

It came one afternoon many years later when we were sitting at the table with a group of friends after church one Sunday. The topic turned to one of how our children used the ventilation systems in our home to hear that which we thought was secret. In every home we have ever lived there are certain rooms that carry sound well to another. In this particular case, the room where I read passages from Elements of Style carried right to their ears with enough clarity to hear what we were saying (and it really hit their funny bones, but to their credit they kept quiet.) So here we are at a table with with friends when Jeff suddenly pipes up about the conversations he heard as a child from his parents bedroom. Ken and I both looked at him aghast-what was he about to reveal! How much had his young ears heard over the years? With great style he informed us of the night mom came into dad and asked if she could read a grammar book. He did a great job of implying that this was great romance in his parents lives and that Ken would then read me math books in return. We still get ribbed about that.

So...my Kindle now has samples of Spunk and Bite by Arthur Plotnik, Sin and Syntax by Constance Hale, Making a Literary Life by Carolyn See, and The Right to Write by Julia Cameron. That should add some spice to my life.

New On My Site This Week:

From Around the Web:

Moralism is Not the Gospel (but many Christians think it is) -Al Mohler with some interesting thoughts: "The deadly danger of moralism has been a constant temptation to the church and an ever-convenient substitute for the Gospel. Clearly, millions of our neighbors believe that moralism is our message. Nothing less than the boldest preaching of the Gospel will suffice to correct this impression and to lead sinners to salvation in Christ."

When Marriage is Hard-"This is what we cling to when marriage is hard. Day by day we trust the one who accomplished salvation for us. We lean hard on his grace and beg him for new mercies with the rising of the morning sun."

A Call to Spiritual Reformation:Priorities From Paul and His Prayers by D.A. Carson

Logos, my favorite Bible study software recently held its own version of March Madness-we voted for out favorite authors. With each round a discount for titles by the runners up were given. D.A. Carson won in the end so I picked up a few of his books at 75 percent off. (Including his commentary on John which is considered one of the best of the best.)

This morning I sat down with the introduction to this book. Carson asks a very good question: what do you think is the urgent need of the church today? Is it purity, integrity, evangelistic effectiveness, better study of Scripture, improved private and corporate worship? While those are important, Carson comes to a different conclusion about the most urgent need in the church today- It is to know God and in this book he focuses on what he calls just one vital part of knowing God better-prayer. "My aim, then, in this series of meditations, is to examine the foundations again. Many different approaches might have been chosen, but the one adopted here is simple. Just as God’s Word must reform our theology, our ethics, and our practices, so also must it reform our praying. The purpose of this book, then, is to think through some of Paul’s prayers, so that we may align our prayer habits with his. We want to learn what to pray for, what arguments to use, what priorities we should adopt, what beliefs should shape our prayers, and much more." I can hardly wait to dig deeper with him.